Protester punished for demanding the permission to perform azan in jail

Baku/17.06.21/Turan: Veli Allahverdiyev, who was on a hunger strike in May a prisoner in jail N6 was placed in a punishment cell for two months, said his mother Telnaz Allahverdieva.

According to her, on May 13, on suspicion of being infected with the coronavirus, he was transferred to the Medical Institution of the Penitentiary Service, and from there he was sent to Jail N2.

At the end of the "quarantine”, he was supposed to be returned back, but he was put in a punishment cell for two months. Moreover, he is threatened with transfer to the covered Gobustan prison.

The Penitentiary Service could not be reached for comment. According to the mother, her son is a believer and the reason for the punishment was the demand to give him the right to perform azan in jail using an amplifier.

Veli Allahverdiyev was among a group of prisoners who went on a hunger strike on May 12, protesting against high prices for food in the prison store, poor quality of food provided to convicts, extortion and a ban on transfers from home. Then the press service of the Penitentiary Service denied the fact of the hunger strike in this jail. —21D06-